Trio arrested in kidnapping, robbery case

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping an acquaintance in an attempt to extort $14,000 from him, San Diego police said.

The scheme unraveled Nov. 21 when police received a 911 call from a man who said he’d been beaten and held against his will at a home on Burton Street, south of Tait Street, in Linda Vista, according to a search warrant.

The victim told police that he was lured to the white stucco house because its residents believed he’d stolen $8,000 in cash and $6,000 in jewelry from them, said San Diego police Lt. Andra Brown.

The kidnappers punched him and ordered him to pay them $14,000, the warrant states. One of the attackers, identified as Michael Edward Galvan, held a knife to his throat, he said.

The victim said he was allowed to leave the house to retrieve the money, and he hoped police would be able to rescue another man who was also being beaten and held there.

Officers surrounded the house and found several people hiding inside, including two people secreted in a crawl space filled with mattresses. At least two people were determined to be undocumented and were handed over to Border Patrol, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack.

Detective Christopher Leahy said he found records linking the home to several contacts by ICE agents regarding prior smuggling and drug investigations.

Detectives who searched the house for evidence recovered duct tape, a knife, a sword, drugs, documents, cellphones and two shirts with droplets of blood, the warrant states.

Police arrested Galvan, 53, and Yuridia Valenzuela Cortez, 24, on suspicion of robbery, false imprisonment with violence, assault with a deadly weapon and making death threats.

Officers also arrested the second so-called kidnapping victim, Isidro Jasso Diaz, 21, who police determined was not a victim, but an accomplice in the scheme, Brown said.